Why Personal Branding Affects Company Branding

If you are hoping to land a job or want to keep your current job, you have to realize that your personal brand will affect a company. A wrong step could leave a company a lot of clean-up—your picture gets placed in the paper for something illegal; you guest post a controversial article; a joke on Twitter gets misinterpreted; etc. For this reason, companies are looking for certain qualities in a personal brand:

3 Things Employers Look for in a Personal Brand

Quality Content – Employers want to see that you are submitting quality content to the public. Whether it be through social media or guest posting, employers want to know that you are an expert in your field. Furthermore, it is important not only that you are knowledgeable about your field but that you take the time to show this to others. The more quality content the better!

Presence – In some professions, it is important that you have some sort of personal brand online. Employers want to see that you are interested in social media and contributing to other websites because this has become so important in the world of business. In some cases, not having any evidence of a personal brand is worse than having a brand that is slightly not to the professional standard (which is oftentimes an easier fix than having to start from scratch).

Connections – Who is reading your quality content and looking at your networks and/or articles is just as important as the content itself. Employers want to see that well established businessmen and businesswomen care what you have to say. This takes time so employers are usually understanding, but it can’t hurt to try and create connections with important people. You may be surprised to find that professionals really care about what you have to say!

All of the qualities listed above will ensure that your personal brand will improve a company. Employers want to know not only that you have a professional brand, but that you know how to use it correctly. If you can begin to create quality connections, produce quality content, and show that you know how to use social media, employers will see you as an asset to their company.

Photo Credit: justcreative.com

Amanda DiSilvestro gives small business and entrepreneurs SEO advice ranging from keyword density to recovering from Panda and Penguin updates. She writes for the nationally recognized SEO CompanyHigherVisibility.comthat offers online marketing services to a wide range of companies across the country.

Thanks, Amanda. In my own case: any company that values my "brand" more than my "content" is unlikely to be interested in me, or I in them. Unlike many/most people (particularly in corporate bloatocracies): I really DO care more about actions/results than appearances/presentations.

Okay, this is not a debate or barb but a real question I have... I am thinking I see an opportunity here for you in spite of your apparent lack of interest; let me know -as I know you will- if I am off center here.

Amanda brings up Branding and you suggest -as I've seen your references to [said loosely] 'putting butts in chairs' and 'time spent on candidate feelings is time lost in filling requisitions- 'branding' is less important than focusing on filling jobs, your 'content'.

I hope I said that about right.

Now, I am wondering if you can squeeze 'Branding' out of this by virtue of the commonality of your recruiting assignments/candidate pool/style/business niche.

If your recruiting can be broad-brushed with a common theme that becomes your Brand.

Assuming there is a common theme.

Assuming having a 'Brand' would be useful to you.

It seems to me that in the past, our reputation was what got us additional business.

I am thinking that 'reputation' has been replaced with 'branding'.

Unless you resist this and can turn the conversation of branding to your advantage, then perhaps Amanda's points above could, after all, become useful tools for you.

Just keeping in mind that 'reputation' has been, I guess, replaced with 'branding'.

Keeping in mind that our reputation = credibility and that branding = reputation...it's all the same-same, as we used to say in the 'Nam.

Even if you may not like catering to the newer conversations of today, one is as useful as the other, n'est-ce pas?

In other words, anything that gets us closer to signing another recruitment contract is a good thing, yes?

The venue that carries your reputation to the listening of your target clients is the venue for your branding.

And by the way, isn't it true that it can be said that your 'content' is the manifestation of your 'brand'?

Am I working too hard at this?

As I said to you elsewhere, I am new to reading blogs and hope to start my own blog page. Amanda's conversation is somewhat generic and has been said elsewhere before but using it as a starting point in this particular conversation/question to you, I am wondering if your reply (hoping you don't tell me to mind my own business) will help me to understand how to live in a world that stresses Branding over Reputation.